A man. A tiger. A tornado. Jared Montaine owns a big cat rescue in Florida and faces financial pressures, getting over his ex-wife, and the challenge of suburbia creeping ever closer to his enclave for the animals. But when a tornado wrecks part of the refuge, Jared's worst fear comes to life: his Siberian tiger, Sultan, escapes. It's a big cat handler’s nightmare: a tiger on the loose, confused, lost -- and hungry. Jared races against the police, the media, and the hysterical public, all of whom are clamoring for the tiger's hide. He must re-capture Sultan before the cat is killed -- by traffic, by SWAT, or by a civilian who just wants to shoot a tiger. With fellow wildlife handlers at his side, Jared fights desperately to find and capture Sultan before the tiger injures or kills a human. Because that would lead to his worst nightmare -- having to kill the tiger he hand-raised from a cub. Jared’s commitment is tested -- to his animals, his refuge, and his belief that saving the life of even one tiger is worth losing everything.

The Tiger Whisperer

Jared turned and stalked to the west side of the deck, too fast. He bonked his head into the heavy bird feeder that dangled on fishing wire. “Shit!” Jared’s hands went to his bandage.


The bird feeder wobbled on its metal hook and spilled sunflower seeds onto the dirt. A pair of fishing cats from a cage nearby oozed closer to their fence, eyes alert. Waiting, hoping for prey


Sultan is doing the same thing out there.


Peter pushed on. “There’s more. I…” He couldn’t make himself say it. His fingers fumbled with the clipboard, snapping the metal holder up and down.


Jared turned and glared back at him, eyes hooded, shoulders squared. The sun was behind him and his hazy silhouette looked enormous. He looked almost like a stranger, his face was so set and foreign that it made Peter nervous. “I’ve got dead cats, hurt cats, and loose cats. What else do you have for me to worry about?”


Chapter 79